Italy reports first mad cow case in 2004

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 07, 2004

Italy reports first mad cow case in 2004

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Italy reported the first mad cow case of 2004 Tuesday after a slaughtered dairy cow from the Italian northern region of Lombardy tested positive for the brain-wasting disease, the local media reported Tuesday.

According to the report, the seven-year-old cow was from a 230-strong herd in Caravaggio near Italian northern city Bergamo, and was bought in the neighboring region of Piedmont in 1998.

A top local animal health official stressed that the cow had shown no symptoms of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) beforebeing slaughtered.

A Lombardy health official tries to reassure consumers Tuesday,saying that "they have nothing to fear. The case in Caravaggio proves that the correct procedures are being followed and that theprecautions are working."

Since January 2001, when Italy started a BSE testing program incompliance with European Union regulations, the country has officially detected 116 cases of mad cow and carried out more thanone million tests for the disease.

All animals over 24 months old now undergo such testing at slaughter.

Italy reported 50 confirmed BSE cases in 2001, 36 in 2002 and 29 in 2003.

Source: Xinhua

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